The present invention relates generally to audio and video recording development, and, in particular, to methods and apparatus whereby audio and video programs from remote sites, including such programs recorded in different formats, may be compiled into a final program or a master and duplicated to produce an audio/video periodical or other applications.
Previous attempts to periodically publish video programs in accordance with a regular schedule have been hampered by the difficulty in producing the program master recordings and subsequently duplicating the required quantities of videotapes or discs quickly enough to permit timely distribution of the programs. Editing of the many segments is time-consuming and expensive, both in labor costs and also in equipment capital and operating costs. Often it may be necessary to produce the program master recording in only a few hours, and to duplicate the program overnight for delivery to the retail outlets while the information content is still current.
The present invention solves problems associated with the production of a program master recording by automating many of the time-consuming compilation and editing steps. According to the invention, the method of producing a master audio and/or video recording for duplication purposes includes the steps of receiving separate and/or combined audio clips and video images in digitally compressed form, including clips and images from remote sites. Text files associated with the audio clips and/or video images are also preferably received. At a master recording production facility, the compressed clips and images and any text files are stored until it is desired to produce a master, at which time the images are scan-converted into a single consistent video format. The scan-converted images and/or audio clips are then recorded onto a master medium which may then be duplicated for distribution purposes. As an alternative, the program may be replayed as many times as necessary to produce the required copies by conventional duplication means without the need for a separate master.
The invention may accommodate video and audio from a variety of sources 52 and in a variety of formats, with the program master recording or final presentation being assembled automatically by replaying the stored segments in a consistent output format and preferably in a predetermined sequence. A wide variety of consumer program distribution formats are also possible, including audio and video cassettes, audio and video discs of any format: magnetic, optical, or magnet-optical, Photo-CD""s, or CD-ROM computer-based programs. Source materials 24 may also be drawn from any imaging format, including still-video images, motion video, scanned printed materials, computer graphical-based files, or animated graphics. To reduce storage requirements at the program master generation facility as the images are accumulated, and to allow the images to be transmitted from remote locations or other image-gathering means over conventional telephone lines, proprietary or public-domain data compression schemes, including the JPEG and MPEG formats, may be utilized for such transmissions. Other audio or audio/video based schemes may alternatively be used, including, for example, the xe2x80x9c.WAVxe2x80x9d format, the xe2x80x9c.AVIxe2x80x9d format, the xe2x80x9cQuicktimexe2x80x9d format associated with various PC-based multi-media platforms, or proprietary systems such as xe2x80x9cMPowerxe2x80x9d for companies like Hewlett-Packard.